Pope, Root notch up centuries as bat continues to dominate play

MATCH CENTRE

***Scores:*1st innings: NZ – 553, ENG – 473/5, trail by 80 runs

Batters continue to make merry

The pitch at Trent Bridge has been an absolute dream for the batters, evidenced by New Zealand's mammoth score of 553 in the first innings. The pitch on Day 3 was no different, with Alex Lees (overnight score of 38*) and Ollie Pope (overnight scored of 51*) continuing from where they left off.

Pope found the boundaries early on as Lees inched closer to his maiden fifty. He got to the milestone in style with a boundary. The opener was a lot more positive in the next couple of overs before Matt Henry lured him with a wide ball outside off which he nicked to Daryl Mitchell at slip.

Root, Pope rampage the Kiwis

Joe Root walked out at the fall of a wicket and continued to show why he is in the league of his own. He took the attack to the bowlers from the get-go. He raced off the blocks and scored a boundary-laden 35* as England went to lunch having added 105 runs to their overnight total.

The boundaries continued to flow after the break as well, with the first five overs after the break fetching a boundary each. En route, Pope scored his first hundred at home while Root got to his fifty in just 56 balls.

Once Pope got to his hundred, he put his foot on the accelerator, plundering Henry for a four and a six off consecutive balls.

As their partnership kept growing, the field started to spread out. However, that did not stop the flow of runs, especially from the bat of Root, who kept finding the ropes at will.

As tea neared, Root changed gears after a few quiet overs and got his 27th Test century. It was his fastest Test hundred, which came from just 116 balls. England went into the break at 331/2, only 222 runs behind New Zealand.

Stokes counter-attacks after twin strike

New Zealand came out revitalized after the tea break, scalping two quick wickets in the first three overs of the session. Trent Boult struck twice in his two overs to send Pope and Bairstow back.

Boult banged it in short to Pope and Matt Henry completed a great catch running in from deep fine leg, thus breaking the marathon 187-run stand. DRS came to aid of the left-arm pacer in his next over when Bairstow's caught-behind decision was overruled.

The Black Caps had a window of opportunity but captain Ben Stokes shut that closed with a counter-attacking innings. He smashed the dangerous Boult out of the attack with four boundaries off his bowling.

The England captain eventually holed out four runs short of a half-century trying to smash Michael Bracewell for consecutive sixes, only to hole out in the deep to Boult.

The Black Caps were dealt a huge blow when Kyle Jamieson had to walk back into the dressing room due to a lower back issue.

Root, Foakes take England safely to stumps

Joe Root and Ben Foakes were a lot more circumspect after the fall of Stokes, though they kept the scoreboard ticking with occasional boundaries. Root smashed Southee for three fours an over and brought up his 150 in just 181 balls.

Foakes remained unbeaten on 24 at stumps, with the pair adding 68 runs for the sixth wicket.

**Stat attack:**Joe Root is only dealing in records! With his ton, he equalled Virat Kohli and Steve Smith's Test ton tally (27). By the time Root finished the day at 163*, he had leapfrogged both Younis Khan and Sunil Gavaskar on the list for most Test runs.